From a macro level, I wonder at what point does distance education growth start to take away from the numbers in the traditional on-campus education model? It may seem far fetched to think of this happening, but consider these trends and factors:

High speed bandwidth is becoming accessible to more households. As of June 30, 2007, the FCC reports 100.9 million lines in the US. That’s a 55% increase from the previous year.

Owning computing devices that can access the Internet is becoming accessible to more households. Entry level desktops can be purchased now in the $300 range and new ‘netbooks’ are being sold in the same price range.

Families with limited funding for higher education or that do not desire to take on large amounts of debt could opt to avoid the extra cost of room and board.

More schools are starting to use distance and taping technology for competitive alignment. I see nothing to indicate this will slow down. This trend makes the school accessible to more students.

Another thought is that this could ultimately start to move the location of the professors and staff members. Why wouldn’t it be possible to have the professor in a different location than the students? At some point in the future multi-point video feeds won’t seem like such a big deal.

This could even lead to ‘Consultant’ professors who are hired on a per course basis by multiple schools. Imaging, Professor X is hired by three different schools to teach Chemistry 101. From his home he creates the lectures and then shares them with the remote class via some tool like WebEx. The students can then use the interactive tools to converse with the Professor. Office hours? Think Skype.

A big trend in many industries these days is consolidation of businesses to afford continued growth and gain economies of scale. Could we see colleges and universities go the same way? As some schools with lesser budgets struggle to keep up and match the offerings of other schools do they become acquisition targets? Is this a logical thought? Perhaps, if you could use their existing space as a satellite campus. Or if, just as in business, you can gain greater efficiencies of scale and profitability by using the smaller school’s resources.

As I mentioned in the first note of this series, the distance education model doesn’t fit everyone. But this model hasn’t reached its potential. It’s only just started to grow. My view is that it will change some of the fundamentals of traditional education over time. It will become an industry to itself, supporting best practices, uses of technology, process work-flows, and the like. It may not directly impact you, but it will certainly be a factor to consider for your children or grandchildren.

Q2. What are the defining program characteristics of the distance MBA program for the institution?

Institutions setting up or running a distance education program must solve logistical tasks associated with the day-to-day operations of the program. Some of the major tasks include:

Development of infrastructure for taping lectures. Possibilities include DVDs, streaming video, and satellite campus rooms.

Development of a process for sending and receiving assignments to be graded. How long will distance students have to return work? Who will receive and grade the work?

Create a system to allow distance students to participate in class room discussions.

Design coursework and assignments so that they can be assigned to both distance and on-campus students.

Technology is really not a barrier for any of these operational elements. The challenge is in defining an efficient process that allows the education to be foremost in the minds of the students and professors. If the process is not efficient or doesn’t work then it takes the attention away from the education and the institution is not accomplishing its goals.

Once the distance education program logistics are set, the institution has a unique program offering. The program characteristics give the institution new possibilities and challenges. Consider the following characteristics for distance education:

Creates opportunity to make the institution name, or the brand, recognizable in a broader geographic area. More name recognition increases the potential base of prospective students.

Creates opportunity to reach a broader and more diverse student audience. Expanding the reach of the institution name can help with finding prospective students for both distance and on-campus formats.

Increases competition beyond the institutions immediate boundaries. Searching for distance students will increase the number of competitors for the institution by nature of expanding its marketing boundaries.

Class room size is not constrained by physical limitations. The limiting factors will be determined by logistical processes to delivery classroom lectures and coursework to students.

Marketing of the program will require a different strategy. Institutions should consider tools and resources used by online professionals. If prospective students are comfortable with distance education they are most likely comfortable with standard online tools for research. Elements to consider are search-engine optimization, video examples of sessions, video testimonials, online reviews and student comments, documentation of program logistics, and method for remote question & answer.

With the advancement of technology clearing the way for distribution of content, I expect more schools to start competing in this space in the future. I’ll discuss what I think about the future implications of online education in part 3 of this series.